A very warm welcome to my teeny, tiny part of the huge world of blogging. This is where I am hoping to share my passion for making hand made greeting cards.
So - why "Always with a Heart"? Well this is for two reasons. Firstly, it is because every card I produce always carries a heart on it somewhere. This can be big and bold or small and almost hidden - the fun sometimes is just trying to find it!
Secondly it is because I put my heart into everything I produce.
I hope that any visitors enjoy seeing what I post. If you drop by then please leave me a comment so that I know you called. It would be nice to know that you have found my heart in what I do.

Monday, 29 April 2013

Well it has been a brilliant day for getting lots of washing dry outdoors today .. .. my poor washing machine has been on overdrive.

I have spent a good part of today (when not going backwards and forwards to the washing line) on a new magazine commission for Quick Cards Made Easy so haven't had chance to make anything fresh to share with you .. .. but I can show you one of the cards I made for the current magazine issue which has just gone on sale (complete with some gorgeous Pink Petticoat image stamps and papers as the a free gift!!).

I was asked if I would like to do the "Card School" commission and provide cards and instructions for making "Joy Fold" cards.

I hadn't actually made any cards in this style before .. .. but believe me a good few have left the House of Hearts since.

Here you can see one of my cards from the commission

More of this style of card will definitely be making an appearance. They are so easy to make and are great for using up some of those smaller pieces of paper.

Still chasing my tail after a weekend away from home so best go and get some more catching up done.

I can't believe I have just sat and made a Christmas card when there is a mountain of other stuff I need to address .. .. but I will be pleased later in the year as this is one more for adding to my own personal Christmas box of cards for us to give away.

As always on a Sunday I am lazy and don't list my ingredients .. . but I think you might all know where all of these crafty snippets have come from anyway!! LOL!!!

Off now to watch my Son play with his band!! We left him at his flat to get ready and he suddenly decided we had packed something he could do with finding!!! Thankfully we found it in the second box we opened!! Phew!!

Friday, 26 April 2013

It has been quite a busy week in the old House of Hearts but I am actually quite pleased with my progress .. .. not very often you will hear me say that!!

Our youngest Son moves out of his flat next weekend so tomorrow I am going to help him with some of his packing .. .. we have been chipping away at it over the last few weeks but now it is getting close to him having to finally put all his vinyl and CDs into sealed boxes!! Oh, parting is such sweet sorrow!

I mustn't be too flippant about this though because he feels the same way about his music as I feel about my craft pod and its contents. If we were moving house on a Saturday I bet I wouldn't pack my craft goodies away until Thursday LOL!!! Well perhaps just a few things could be packed away early!!!

So a busy couple of weekends ahead that I am trying not to think about too much!!

I am really enjoying playing along with sketch challenges at the moment (as you may have noticed) and today I am playing along with the Friday Sketch Challenge with this little creation

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Another order has been packed up and shipped out today .. .. so more clear space in the House of Hearts and another line crossed off the faithful "do list". You never know we might even manage to eat at the table AGAIN tonight!! What luxury!!

But for now here is my share for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for April where this month the theme is to use the lovely sketch they have provided:

Firstly, after showing you the extent of the snippets I gained from cutting up card for a wedding order the other day quite a few of you wanted to know what kind of trimmer I use.

Well my big one is a very well used and very loved EdgeMaster EM300 System that I bought many, many, many years ago from the NEC when I first starting making creations to sell. I thought I would try and find a picture of it for you .. .. but better than that here is a link. Where I have noticed tells me it is going out of production!!! Eeeekkkk!!!! Looks like I had better stock up on the spare cutting strips and blades I will be needing for the next who knows how many years!!! What age will I retire at?!?!?!?!?

Then another question I was asked, and am quite frequently asked, is how I stick the nail heads I use onto my cards.

To begin with I just bought the nail heads and some of the strong gluethey recommended .. .. they are quite fiddly to stick down with glue but with the aid of a cocktail stick it isn't impossible .. . .. and if you are only sticking a few down then it doesn't really matter does it. But eventually I was hooked on the nail heads and decided to invest in a hot fix wand .. .. which makes the job a hundred times quicker.

I think that was all I needed to reply to .. .. except for one scary one .. ..

Will I do any videos showing how I sew on my cards and tie my ribbons .. .. .. all I will say is don't hold your breath .. .. .. it isn't that I am secretive and don't like sharing my crafty skills .. .. I just don't think I have the technology or confidence to make the actual videos LOL!!!.

Monday, 22 April 2013

I love the start of a new week .. .. it makes me feel like I have oodles of time to fit everything in I want to do .. .. but somehow the week just disappears in a puff of smoke. Yes, I will have got lots done .. .. but never enough!! I am never satisfied.

Even if by some miracle I was ever able to clear my very long do list I would be able to click to my "one day I want to try" list. I will never be short of something to do!!!

I must be so annoying to live with .. .. but that is just tough .. .. I have my good points too (if you look deep enough)!!!! LOL!!!

Anyway, today's share is for the Sketch N Stash Challenge where they have provided a lovely sketch for us to follow with the option of doing some distressing too. They also want you to mention what "new" or "neglected" stash you have used on your creation.

Well I can give examples for both. The backing papers were new at the weekend (because there was a 34% off sale on at Nitwits and it would be rude not to take advantage) and my neglected piece of stash is my Tim Holtz distressing tool. Though it is only neglected because I always struggle to find it. So today I have given it its own special place in the craft pod in the hope I can find it straight away next time I decide to play with it.

So here is my make:

This used:

Image and Sentiment: LOTVBacking Papers: Nitwits "With This Ring Too" (whilst linking I noticed the sale is still on at the mo)My Trust Sewing MachineProMarkers and ChalkAdirondack Lights: Pink SherbetDiamond SticklesGlamour DustRibbon, flower and pearls from my stash box

and if you fancy playing along here is the sketch I followed

Enjoy your Monday everyone. Time for me to settle into making more wedding samples for interested "happy couples" and then a batch of favour boxes.

Sunday, 21 April 2013

Not so much sunshine here today .. .. but perhaps that is a good thing as it might make me not switch the washing machine on and make even more ironing!!!!!

The other day whilst searching for my large post-it notes I came across a couple of really old Scrap Magic templates by Nellie Snellen.

I bought these in my early days of crafting and had forgotten just how much fun I had using up my tiny bits and pieces of card/paper/ribbon etc with them. In fact I am convinced that it was these templates that started me off saving the smallest bits of paper and card because you need hardly any to create something.

I have been trying to find a demonstration as to how the templates are used but haven't managed to find anything yet .. .. but you will probably get the general idea anyway if you look at my card and the actual template below.

As I finished this little make this morning I thought that the playmates in the old Crafty Snippet Playground might think I had lost the plot .. .. but then when I saw what "Miss Di" had produced with her snippets I suddenly felt quite sane LOL!!!!

These are the actual templates I have (there are loads of them in different shapes) and the square one is my favourite. The circle always takes a little more time and patience to get a good look with. You just pick and choose which sections you want use to fill your chosen shape.

As always on a Sunday I am lazy and don't list what I have used . . but as always you only have to ask if you want to know what anything is.

Hoping for a good catch up with my commenting later .. .. I am a bit behind AGAIN!!!!!

Saturday, 20 April 2013

The weather here is gorgeous .. .. what a shame it couldn't have been like this for my "happy couple" last Saturday .. .. but never mind I bet they are in Australia now so they won't be bothered!! LOL!!

To be honest this weather would do me for Summer.

I found some exciting news over at Sketch Saturday when I checked this week's sketch out .. .. I was the lucky winner from last week's challenge and have won a voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp. Gosh it is going to be difficult deciding what to spend my prize on .. .. they have masses of Penny Black stamps (and that is before I look at anything else on their vast site).

Anyway, I decided that the little image I coloured last night would work well with this week's sketch so this is what I have created:

This used:

Image: Stamps by Judith and Heather "R-50-HK" Love-Bugs (mine came from the NEC a couple of years ago but I have found it on 'tinternet in case anyone is interested)Sentiment: Pink Petticoat "Tiny Everyday Sentiments"Backing Papers: Pink Petticoat "Pinstripes" (printed onto cream card) and the dotted paper is part of the "Isabelline" collection.X-Cut Flower PunchX-Cut Corner Rounder PunchMy Trusty Sewing MachineProMarkersChalkAdirondacks Ink Pad: Cloudy BlueDiamond SticklesSelf Adhesive Pearls

and if you fancy playing along then this is the sketch I followed

It is our first Saturday night in for a few weeks so we are planning a romantic dinner for two (also known as making the most of the dining room table being clear after a wedding stationery collection earlier today) LOL!!!

I hope you all have a great evening. See you tomorrow with my snippets.

Friday, 19 April 2013

The morning was spent putting the finishing touches to a wedding order that is being collected tomorrow.

The afternoon was then taken up making cards for my lovely Sis's salon ahead of visiting my Mum armed with favour boxes to stick together.

I arrived home early evening and decided I deserved "a little play time". So I installed myself in my little craft pod with the chance to make anything I fancied .. .. and I couldn't decide what to play with. Typical !!!

Eventually I picked a stamp and then spent ages trying to find my large post-it notes so I could blank off some of my image to add a background .. .. .. that will teach me to re-organise things LOL!!

Anyway, this is the start of a creation .. . but there was no time to finish it. My lovely "hubby cooked" supper was nearly ready. So this is how far I got:

It just goes to show that I do need a "do list" to keep me on track. Given a choice I spend far too long "pondering" and "choosing".

EXCITED TO BE DESIGNING FOR

SO HAPPY TO BE WORKING WITH FISKARS

FOLLOW ME BY EMAIL

BLOG FRIENDS CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR THE HEART

FAITHFUL HEART SEARCHERS

BRITISH CRAFT AWARDS 2016 FAVOURITE CARD DESIGNER

A big THANK YOU to everyone who voted for me xxx

.

.

.

TRANSLATE MY RAMBLINGS

POLITE NOTICE

I would feel honoured if you felt inspired by any of my creations - but please do not directly copy my ideas or work for submission to magazines, competitions, challenges or design teams etc. Many thanks Jules xx